Demolition works have begun at the old Hinckley Leisure Centre on Coventry Road this week.

Hoardings and fencing has been put to seal off the site and internal stripping out will take place before the building itself is razed.

Contractor Cawarden expects the removal of the 1970s centre will take around 13 weeks to complete and involve heavy machinery to pull down walls, rip up floors and take up foundations along with the removal of the building’s contents and live services.

The adjacent Trinity Vicarage Road car park will remain open, subject to the requirements of the contractor and the pedestrian access from the car park to Trinity Lane is also being open although some short term closures may be necessary for safety reasons.

The car park will eventually form part of the whole redevelopment site but is expected to stay as a car park until the plot is ready for construction.

While a final decision on the future use of the site is yet to be made, the council has invited design proposals for redeveloping this key town centre site. It had been suggested the site could be used for housing, possibly built by the authority itself thanks to the creation of an arm’s length company.

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The authority had budgeted the demolition of the old building at £476,000 based on cost for similar projects.

Bill Cullen, deputy chief executive at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, said: “We’ve written to residents and businesses around the site and we will continue to keep them and our other customers up to date with news and progress throughout the demolition and beyond.

“Once the site has been demolished to will open the opportunity for creating a landmark development at this key gateway into the town centre. The council will consult fully on potential plans and options once a developer has been secured.”